El Camino Plagued by Pointless Encounters

As the final seconds slid off the clock during the El Camino Real-Lompoc game, a fan glanced around with a puzzled look on his face and asked, “What the hell’s going on here?”

The Conquistadores were getting thrashed by the Braves, 43-0.

It was the fourth time in as many games this season that El Camino was held scoreless.

Coach Skip Giancanelli blames his team’s rough start--”The poorest we’ve ever had here”--on inexperience and a lack of quickness. After losing the season opener to Canoga Park, 21-0, Giancanelli said, “We have so much to improve on, we’ll see how we progress.”

Since that game, El Camino has lost to Taft, 20-0, Loyola, 42-0, and Lompoc, 43-0. For anyone counting, that totals 126-0.

El Camino Real won’t get a break tonight. It plays Granada Hills, which averages 26 points a game.

In the Pac 8 League, Reseda Coach Joel Schaeffer’s reputation precedes him.

Poly Coach Dick Windham described Schaeffer as a “loud, rusty old SOB. He’s a bleeping bully. When he was in grammar school, he probably had his own drinking fountain.”

Windham is miffed, no doubt, because before his game against Reseda last week, Schaeffer gave him films of the Regents, but footage of all the touchdowns were taken out.

“We got the films,” Windham said. “And all the scoring was edited out. He’s a dirty SOB.”

Reseda beat Poly, 27-24.

Crespi High freshman running back Russell White, who has rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the Celts’ four freshman team victories, will not play football for the next two weeks so he can concentrate on improving his grades.

“The decision was made in consultation with his mother, counselor and the coaching staff,” Crespi Athletic Director Paul Muff said. “They felt it was better for Russell to use that time after school to get some tutoring.”

Muff said that White is not academically ineligible. It is not the first time a Crespi athlete has been held out of competition to concentrate on classroom work, he said.

“We do this type of thing with our freshmen and sophomores, so we can catch any possible problems early,” Muff said. “It doesn’t do any good to have them spending time on the field if they’re having some difficulty in the classroom.”

White’s status will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Village Christian kicker Alex Hepburn has kicked game-winning field goals in each of the school’s last two games. He has also provided his team with its only points in the games. The Crusaders won both with 3-0 scores. The junior place-kicker hit field goals from 47 and 42 yards out.

Hepburn, who is a soccer player, is playing his first season of football. According to Village Christian Coach Mike Plaisance, Hepburn regularly kicks 55-yarders in practice.

“Even from 55 yards, he’s clearing the bar by five yards,” Plaisance said. “He’s got a very strong leg. We expect big things from him. He’s fairly accurate. From 40 yards in, he’s deadly.”

Plaisance is making a habit of turning soccer players into place-kickers. Last year, soccer player Jeff Pohl set an Alpha League record at Village Christian with a 48-yard field goal.

“And I have no doubt that (Alex) will break that record,” Plaisance said. “He still loves soccer better than football. He’s a soccer player, not a football player. He’s just kicking for us, that’s all.”

Faith Baptist, which plays eight-man football, has the fourth-longest winning streak in the Southern Section. The Contenders have won 16 straight. Canyon has the longest streak at 29 games.

Faith Baptist’s last win was a 76-27 rout of Perris Temple Christian. The Contenders are the No. 1-ranked team in the Southern Section’s Eight-man Large Schools Division.

Chaminade was not ranked by the Southern Section a week ago. But after the Eagles (3-1-1) last week beat previously undefeated Calabasas, 31-6, they moved up to No. 6 in the Desert-Mountain Conference.

According to the latest Southern Section statistics, Westlake is ranked No. 5 in scoring. The Warriors have scored 192 points in five games. Sixty of the 192 points came in Westlake’s last game, against Royal. Alemany is tied for fourth in defense, allowing 17 points in five games. Canyon ranks 13th in defense, giving up 26 points in five games.